District Attorney Todd Spitzer (Orange County), veteran criminal defense attorney Robert Sanger (Sanger Swysen & Dunkle), and state Senator Bill Monning (Dist. 17) reflect on Gov. Newsom's death penalty moratorium, and on the likely future for capital punishment in the state.

Securities and white collar defense veteran Richard Marmaro (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP) offers insights into his trade, and the marathon securities case that culminated his career last year. Orange County reporter Meghann Cuniff conducts the interview.

The 1st District Court of Appeal is poised to become the first California appellate court to use tentative rulings district-wide. New Rule 15(b) of the district's proposed updated local rules would allow panels to 'on occasion and in their sole discretion' issue tentative rulings in advance of oral argument. Administrative Presiding Justice Jim Humes visits to discuss the proposal, its provenance, and its intended impact. Plus, John Taylor, Jr., and Kirk Jenkins (Horvitz & Levy) offer the appellate attorney perspective.

This week we're joined by four experts to chat through the week's biggest California-related appellate and constitutional news. Arthur Hellman (Pitt Law) and Dan Siegel (Siegel, Yee, discuss SCOTUS' reversal of Stephen's Reinhardt's posthumous gender pay gap ruling; Marc Angelucci (Nat'l Coalition for Men) chats about his Equal Protection Clause win against an all-male draft; and Glenn Danas (Robins Kaplan) describes why PAGA waivers remain unenforceable post-'Epic.' Plus reporter Nick Sonnenburg appraises the 9th Circuit's newest member, Eric Miller

SCOTUS has decided to hear an important 9th Circuit appeal regarding whether the Clean Water Act covers indirect discharges of pollutants. The grant allows the Court to clean up something of a muddy jurisprudence, after the last major water decision, 'Rapanos v. U.S.,' fractured the justices and left uncertainty as to which opinion controls. We present competing views from the attorney for environmental plaintiffs, David Henkin (Earthjustice), and from Andre Monette (Best, Best & Krieger), who represents a cohort of public agency amici.

The fight over a prominent, publicly-maintained cross memorializing war dead gives SCOTUS the chance to clarify a confused Establishment Clause doctrine. What might that look like? We'll hear contrasting viewpoints from First Amendment experts Alan Brownstein (UC Davis School of Law) and Richard Garnett (Notre Dame Law School)

Several 9th Circuit appeals await resolution at the U.S. Supreme Court this term, and some other prominent petitions remain pending. Appellate expert Blaine Evanson (Gibson Dunn) previews how SCOTUS' second half might resolve these matters. Plus, Harsh Voruganti (Voruganti Law Firm; The Vetting Room) discusses the latest 9th Circuit nominees and their various hurdles to confirmation.

In its first chance to construe new First Amendment commercial speech doctrine articulated last spring by SCOTUS in 'NIFLA v. Becerra,' an en banc 9th Circuit panel united to block San Francisco's soda advertisement health warning, but split four ways on why the compelled speech was impermissible. Competing amici Wen Fa (Pacific Legal Foundation) and Ted Mermin (Berkeley Law; Public Good Law Center) unpack the ruling and the emerging doctrine.

As the 46th Securities Regulation Institute convenes in San Diego, we examine three prominent securities law cases under SCOTUS consideration. Peter Henning (Wayne State SOL; formerly SEC) unpacks 'Lorenzo v. SEC' and misstatement liability, Matthew Close (O'Melveny) discusses 'Emulex v. Varjabedian' and tender offer omissions, and Brendan Cullen (Sullivan & Cromwell) chats 'Toshiba v. AIPTF' and the Security Exchange Act's extraterritorial limits.

The government’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census hit a judicial impasse Monday, in the form of a stern 277-page district court ruling that questioned the administration’s motives, and which is likely destined for SCOTUS review. Three guests help unpack the sprawling decision: Prof. Justin Levitt (Loyola Law School), Steven Camarota (Center for Immigration Studies), and former Census Bureau Director Vincent Barabba.